The Morning Ledger: President Trump to Initiate Rollback of Dodd-Frank Rules

In this Jan. 25, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump signs an executive in Washington, D.C., U.S.

AP

Good morning. President Trump is shaking up the financial-regulation world, as predicted. He is expected to sign an executive action today to scale back the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, a move aimed at dismantling large parts of the regulatory framework put in place after the financial crisis, write Michael C. Bender and Damian Paletta.

“Americans are going to have better choices and Americans are going to have better products because we’re not going to burden the banks with literally hundreds of billions of dollars of regulatory costs every year,” White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “The banks are going to be able to price product more efficiently and more effectively to consumers.”

Mr. Trump and his team could also make changes to the role the U.S. is playing in crafting rules for the international financial industry. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a letter dated Jan. 31 it was “unacceptable” that the Federal Reserve was continuing to help craft international regulation of the finance industry after the inauguration of Mr. Trump. Mr. McHenry in his letter called upon the Fed to pull out of all talks until Mr. Trump has had the opportunity to look into the matter, Greg Robb reports.

As for Dodd-Frank, companies previously said there are parts worth keeping and parts worth doing away with. But for now, big U.S. companies, including finance firms, in the meantime report improved profits for the final quarter of 2016 and tout rosier prospects for 2017. Of the 242 companies in the S&P 500 index that held conference calls or other investor events in January, half mentioned Mr. Trump directly or indirectly, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of transcripts. Despite uncertainty over new proposals, most of the companies urged patience—and optimism.

Daimler AG to eliminate adjusted-Ebit reporting. Finance chief Bodo Uebber said that the German automaker will no longer use these figures for guidance, Nina Trentmann reports. The decision comes amid the release of new guidelines on reporting alternative performance measures by the European Securities and Markets Authority.

This Sept. 19, 2013, photo shows workers at the Target Technology Innovation Center office in San Francisco, Calif., U.S.

AP

January’s jobs report. The report is the first one under President Trump, a vocal critic of the measure of unemployment. Economists expect 174,000 new jobs and an unwavering unemployment rate at 4.7%.

President Trump to meet with CEOs. The list includes James Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Ginni Rometty of International Business Machines Corp., BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink and Walt Disney Co.’s Bob Iger, among others.

The logo of messaging app Snapchat is seen at a booth at a technology job fair in Los Angeles, Calif., U.S., Jan. 26, 2017.

Reuters

Snap Inc. files its initial public offering.The company is expected to seek a valuation between $20 billion to $25 billion. The Wall Street Journal’s MoneyBeat pores over its filing to filter through the verbiage and dissect its risks and opportunities.

Immigration uncertainty threatens tech industry. Tech executives worry that President Trump’s executive order could presage other policies that would make it harder to hire skilled immigrants—not least because of Mr. Trump’s frequent criticism of U.S. companies that employ foreign workers.

This photo taken on December 12, 2013 shows the headquarters of J.P. Morgan Chase on Park Avenue in New York City, New York, U.S.

AFP/Getty Images

J.P. Morgan shakes up compliance team. The bank is reorganizing executives who lead its compliance and anti-money-laundering strategies. Long-term executive Frank Pearn has been named the bank’s new chief compliance officer, its fourth one in about four years.

Vanguard files for bankruptcy.Vanguard Natural Resources LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy after reaching the terms of a debt-for-equity swap with its bondholders designed to eliminate $708 million in debt from the company’s books.

Sibanye may raise equity for Stillwater deal. Sibanye Gold Ltd. said it might tap shareholders for up to $1.3 billion to partly fund a $2.2 billion takeover of Stillwater Mining Co., the only U.S. miner of platinum and palladium, Reuters reports.

REGULATION

A Shell logo is seen at a petrol station in Ankara, Turkey, March 6, 2012.

J.Crew Group Inc. sues lenders. The retailer filed a complaint in New York state’s Supreme Court, an attempt to stop the company’s lenders from reacting to its transfer of intellectual property to an unrestricted subsidiary. The subsidiary isn’t part of the loan agreement it has with its lenders.

Avaya Inc.’s proposed bonuses under the scanner. The company plans to give bonuses between $20 million to $50 million during its chapter 11 case. A federal watchdog has filed court papers to ensure that these proposals don’t violate bankruptcy code restrictions.

EARNINGS

Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in New York, Jan. 29, 2016.

ConocoPhillips cuts its losses. It posted a loss of $35 million compared to last year’s $3.5 billion loss. The change was attributed to improved commodity prices.

Eaton Corp. omits Trump in forecast. The company has not accounted for President Trump’s proposed plans to punish businesses manufacturing in Mexico. Its revenue fell to $5.87 billion, missing analyst estimates.

In this Sept. 29, 2015 file photo, founder Ralph Lauren (r.) poses in his New York office with CEO Stefan Larsson. Mr. Larsson will now leave the company.

Associated Press

Investors concerned about Ralph Lauren’s CEO departure. A dispute over creative control led Ralph Lauren Corp. Chief Executive Stefan Larsson to leave the struggling luxury fashion brand after less than two years at the helm. The company also announced that it expects sales to decline further.

América Móvil in the red. Telecommunications company América Móvil SAB reported a net loss for the fourth quarter despite higher sales, as a weaker Mexican peso boosted revenue but also pushed up financial costs.

UGG boots-maker post lower profit. The maker of UGG boots, Deckers Outdoor Corp., reported a sharply lower quarterly profit on lower sales during the holiday period and wrote down its Sanuk sandals brand.

Metro profits down. German retailer Metro AG said Friday that net profit fell in its fiscal first quarter, despite tepid holiday sales in December and currency losses in several countries.

ECONOMY

Euro, Hong Kong dollar, U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, British pound and Chinese 100-yuan banknotes are seen in a picture illustration shot, Jan. 21, 2016.

Reuters

Trump vs. the dollar.This week Donald Trump said the U.S. acted “like a bunch of dummies” while other countries relied on currency devaluation to compete. Unfortunately for fans of plain speaking, any push for a weak currency conflicts both with history and Mr. Trump’s own policies.

FireEye Inc., a Milpitas, Calif.-based cybersecurity company, announced the departure of CFO and COO Michael Berry. He will be replaced by Frank Verdecanna, the company’s senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer. Compensation details weren’t immediately disclosed.

THE WEEKEND READER

Every weekend we select a handful of in-depth articles we think are worth a bit of your time, either because they peel back the layers on a compelling business story, or somehow make us look at business in a different light.

China, now in theaters near you.Chinese companies are scooping up Hollywood studios and opening plenty of their own, according to Time magazine. It goes both ways— the American film industry has started to pay closer attention to the preferences of its Chinese viewers, a growing demographic despite a quota system that curtails the number of imported feature films. This change comes as President Xi Jinping is cracking down on free expression.

Trump may be bad for business. Bloomberg Businessweek takes a comprehensive look on what President Trump has promised and what he has already delivered. The article examines at what businesses—and the U.S. on the whole—expected and what they now fear under the new administration.

The end of employees. Never before have American companies tried so hard to employ so few people. The outsourcing wave that moved apparel-making jobs to China and call-center operations to India is now just as likely to happen inside companies across the U.S. and in almost every industry, Lauren Weber writes for The Wall Street Journal.

The Morning Ledger from CFO Journal cues up the most important news in corporate finance every weekday morning. Rheaa Rao contributed to today’s Ledger. Send us tips, suggestions and complaints: kimberly.johnson@wsj.com. Get the free Morning Ledger emailed to you each weekday morning by signing up at: http://on.wsj.com/TheMorningLedgerSignup